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Research

I study how individuals and communities use social networks to manage uncertainty and build resilience. My research sits at the intersection of interpersonal communication and organizational behavior, examining how information and relationships enable and constrain people's ability to handle adversity across everyday, workplace, and crisis contexts. Using mixed-method approaches, including advanced social network analysis and qualitative inquiry, I investigate how communication structures shape people's everyday experiences with identity, work, and life.

 

I have secured $92,000+ in awards and grants to support my work, and my research is published in leading journals across multiple disciplines, such as Management Communication Quarterly, Disasters, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, and Natural Hazards Review.

Methods

Surveys ┋ Interviews

Focus Groups

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Structural Equation Modeling

Inferential Statistics

Thematic Analysis

Content Analysis

Sentiment Analysis

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Social Network
Analysis

Egocentric (Personal) Networks
Whole Networks
Semantic (Word) Networks

Software

SPSS - STATA - NVivo
NodeXL - E-Net - UCINET
LIWC - AutoMap

Social Networks
& Resilience

I examine how the structure and composition of social support and discussion networks influence resilience and long-term recovery among individuals and communities. This work explores tie strength, network multiplexity, and emergent support systems in disaster-impacted and everyday populations.

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  • Benedict, B. C. (2024). The tensions of crowdsourcing resilience organizing in disaster-specific Facebook groups after the Camp Fire. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 15(2), 261-283. https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12299

  • Benedict, B. C. (2022). Entanglements of identity and resilience in the Camp Fire’s network of disaster-specific Facebook groups. Media and Communication, 10(2), 5-17. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v10i2.5038

  • Lee, S., Benedict, B. C., & Guest, T. (2022). Discussion networks and resilience of college students: Explicating tie strength in communicative interaction. International Journal of Communication, 16(2022), 2526-2550. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/18675/3774

  • Lee, S., Siebeneck, L. K., Benedict, B. C., Yabe, T., Jarvis, C. M., & Ukkusuri, S. V. (2022). Patterns of social support and trajectories of household recovery after Superstorm Sandy. Natural Hazards Review, 23(2), 04022002. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000548​

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Information Environments
& Risk Perception

I study how information environments and complex communication systems influence risk perception and behavioral responses under stress. This interdisciplinary work bridges communication theory with disaster research, engineering, and transportation studies.

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  • Adjei, E., Benedict, B. C., Murray-Tuite, P., Lee, S., Ukkusuri, S., & Ge, Y. (2022). Effects of risk perception and perceived certainty on evacuate/stay decisions. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 80(1), 103247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103247

  • Verma, R., Shen, J., Benedict, B. C., Murray-Tuite, P., Lee, S., Ge, Y., & Ukkusuri, S. (2022). Progression of hurricane evacuation-related dynamic decision-making with information processing. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 108, 103323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2022.103323

  • Lee, S., Benedict, B. C., Ge, Y., Murray-Tuite, P., & Ukkusuri, S. V. (2021). An application of media and network multiplexity theory to the structure and perceptions of information environments in hurricane evacuation. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 72(7), 885-900. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24456

Uncertainty & Workplace Communication Design

I investigate how communication practices shape experiences of uncertainty, identity, and perceived social cost in workplaces and institutions. This research focuses on message design, dismissal communication, institutional transitions, and emotion management.

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Methodological Innovation
in Network Research

I develop and apply innovative mixed-method approaches to studying communication networks, including extracting quantitative network structures from qualitative data and modeling both human and nonhuman actors in egocentric networks.

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  • Benedict, B. C., Lee, S., Jarvis, C. M., Siebeneck, L. K., & Wolfe, R. (2023). Utilizing qualitative data for social network analysis in disaster research: Opportunities, challenges, and an illustration. Disasters. https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12605

  • Lee, S., Benedict, B. C., Jarvis, C. M., Siebeneck, L., & Kuenanz, B-J. (2020). Support and barriers in long-term recovery after Hurricane Sandy: Improvisation as a communicative process of resilience. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 48(4), 438-458. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2020.1797142

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